


Wait for it.

by HeirOfRage



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, BillDip, Cheesy romance, Creepy Bill, Dipper has issues, Dipper is a cockblock, Drama AU, Hamilton AU, I have actually never seen Hamilton the Musical, M/M, Minor Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Pacifica is unimpressed, RENT the musical, Theodosia is Theodor now, Wait for it, and Bill leaves a dead mouse in his locker, but his voice still cracks, in which Dipper can sing, it's like HSM but gayer, musical AU, roadkill, stupid gifts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-11 05:24:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7030738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeirOfRage/pseuds/HeirOfRage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Mabel persuades Dipper to take Drama classes with her.<br/>It could be better, but it's not bad, even though the blond guy is creeping him out.<br/>It's all sunshine and rainbows until Mabel falls sick and Dipper has to save the day. And he is not letting Bill ruin it.</p><p>(I didn't proofread this.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> “That psycho left a dead mouse in my locker,” he mutters and jerks his head towards Bill who has changed his shirt into white for the occasion and ditched the yellow suspenders, shuddering with disgust.  
> “Aww, he likes you. That’s adorable."

If Dipper ever had a say in this, he wouldn’t have ended taking Drama classes. He still has to thank his sister for the unfortunate turn of events. Drama is her life - any form of art is - and when she discovered that she is pretty decent at singing (due to an unplanned sing-off against Pacifica Northwest, the local Drama Queen, pun intended, in the halls of Gravity Falls High for everyone to hear), someone overheard, instantly recommending that she should sign up for the school’s vocal group but she had dismissed that idea as ‘standing around is boring, I want action!’ - and in the end got what she wanted. Some poor soul told her that this year, Drama is mostly going to focus its performances on musicals with wild dance numbers to match the upbeat songs most of them feature. Nevertheless, Mabel was instantly enamoured by this and insisted that her brother joins too. Dipper was, of course, reluctant to as he knew that he cannot sing to save his life and the only place where he would sing willingly was the shower. As proved by the heartfelt renditions of Disco Girl the Pines household got to hear every single night.  
After endless persuasions, bribery and a threat of Mabel Juice being forcefully poured down his throat, he finally agreed to sign up alongside her. He didn’t like his voice, thinking he cannot sing and no matter how many times he had tried, his voice would keep jumping at the worst parts - the heights - and crack like he is a prepubescent kid. It’s been 5 years since it has started and now, at almost 18 and with his voice already changed, it still shows no sign of stopping, making him really, really self-conscious.

Needless to say that he was afraid of the semester’s first class. He didn’t know what to expect from it, imagining as an episode of GLee where they will introduce themselves and then sing something to prove that their acceptance was reasonable.  
Luckily, it doesn’t prove to have the mechanics of a GLee episode and he never thought he could be happier. The spacious auditorium was filled with no less than 20 people. Listening on the conversations as he and Mabel made their way to their seats, he found out that many of the students are talking about how they sent samples to the teachers to get in, what Dipper deemed a nonsense since he didn’t have to do anything - unless Mabel was involved - but he still finds it to be really stupid to have students do this so that they could take classes.

Presently, he finds himself in the very same class, just a few minutes after his freak-out about this entire thing resembling GLee. While everyone is still settling down, he finds himself looking over to the kids present. He outright skips Pacifica and her underdogs (or should her say ‘bitches’? haha), going over to the rest of the people. Some are talking, some are sitting alone and waiting for the teacher to come already. And then there is this guy - he looks like he is at least a year older than everyone else, lanky and tall (but unlike Dipper, with some actual muscle mass) with tan golden skin and bleached blond hair cut short on one side keeping its, what Dipper assumes is, original black colour while the longer blond part on the other side of his head falls into his face. A perfect drama kid, if you ask him. Said guy is currently balancing his chair on its hind legs only, feet up on the table as his head is tipped back and he is trying to balance a pencil on his nose horizontally. With a snort, Dipper notices that unlike everyone else, he is wearing formal clothes: a black button up, a bow-tie, black slacks, bright yellow suspenders and, sweet Waddles on a skateboard, are those actual gloves? Another snort comes from him when the pencil tips over and as the male tries to balance it, he slides off the chair and down on the floor, landing not so gracefully. Clearly amused and maybe just a hint concerned, Dipper turns around to see if anyone else saw. To his disappointment, no one did. When he turns back, bow-tie guy is back on his seat, doing exactly what he was doing just a second ago, but this time, his golden eyes - no, one golden and one blue - are fixated on the brunet, a coy grin playing on his features.  
With a roll of his eyes, Dipper turns back to the front of the class just in time to be greeted by their teacher. This is going to be a fun year.

Not so surprisingly, Drama doesn’t end up as his favourite class. Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t see it as a bad one either. Sure, sometimes he has to listen to Pacifica complain about everything, but it’s honestly not so bad when you learn how to ignore it and tune her voice out. Other than that, the weird guy gives him the heebie-jeebies. He doesn’t like the way the boy always watches him or at least looks his way and when their gazes meet and he gives him that smirk. It makes Dipper’s blood run cold, feeling as if he had pins and needles under his skin. It does help him stay alert, however.  
Throughout the semester, they learn various theory and are given research assignments along with interpretation exercises. Sometimes, they get around to do the actual singing parts and most of the time, Dipper manages to hide while the teacher looks for volunteers. Luckily for him, weird kid and Pacifica end up on the small stage most of the time, along with Mabel, who always gets overly excited.  
There is this one time when Dipper gets the short end of the stick and gets called out to the small stage along with another poor, unfortunate soul to perform a song from the musical they are currently taking. Nervousness is apparent on Dippers features as he looks into the crowd for support, biting his lip as he gets handed the script and lyrics, glancing down from Mabel giving him thumbs up to the papers in his hands, reading: ‘She loves me.’  
With panic in his eyes, he turns to the teacher standing by their desk, nodding at him and silently encouraging him to do his best. And he tries. He tries to make it as genuine as possible, pretending he is singing it to his childhood crush, going through the highlighted segment. It isn’t as bad as he thought it would be, and his voice cracked only once and that counts as an achievement in his book. The teacher nods at him and with a loud sigh of relief, he passes the notes to the person next to him before basically sprinting to his seat. Mabel laughs at him and congratulates him, playfully slapping his back. He is ready to retort with something sassy and/or sarcastic, but just when he opens his mouth, a crumpled piece of paper hits his cheek and bounces off his desk. His brows furrow and he closes his mouth, taking the paper, opening it to read what’s inside: ‘Nice voice crack.’ it reads simply. He doesn’t even need to look up to know who threw it - the A is a small triangle and the O a triangle upside down. There is only one person in this class with an obsession with triangles. The weird kid, William 'Bill' Cipher.

After the stunt in front of the class, everything goes smoothly on the lessons. Sure, there is still William being a creep, but as long as it stays at occasional ogling in class, he is fine with it. At one point, the teacher calls him aside to offer him help with his mid-term’s practical part at which he has to sing a full-length song in front of the class. The teacher mentions Dipper and his jumping voice and before Dipper can even feel embarrassed, they compliment him on it, adding that it emphasises the whole emotional aspects of a lot of songs. Since the song choice is up to the student and can be any song (a serious one), they recommend Dipper a few songs where the artists sing in a similar manner and after a bit of unsure shrugging, the teacher assigns him the song ‘Alive’ by Sia. Now, he was originally going to go with good ol’ Disco Girl and make a joke out if it, so the choice, well, an actual assignment instead of a choice surprises him. Nevertheless, despite the fact that he never heard the song, he decides to give it a shot. Only when he comes home and actually bothers to play the song he realises what a mistake he made. Oh boy.

He has a month to learn the song. A month during which he also has to study for his other finals. Somehow, he manages to focus on singing too, taking at least an hour off every day so that he and Mabel can practice together and coach each other with playful jabs. What he finds out is that the song perfectly matches his mood after his other mid-terms are over. He is alive, he survived them. No pun intended. During his studies, he finds himself humming the song more and more often, going as far as practicing the higher notes while writing down his History notes the night before the exam, remembering some information to the beat of the song. It empowers him sometimes and helps him remember the important things.  
After the History exam, he is left with 2 more days to perfect his skill and make sure he delivers the song perfectly without his anxieties and nervousness getting in the way. The fact that some maniac (aka William) left a gift in the form of a dissected mouse and a couple of teeth in his locker in the morning (how he got the combination is beyond his comprehension but now he also has to deal with a foul smelling locker) doesn’t make it any better.  
Having nothing to lose, except for his dignity, he makes his way towards his Drama class, almost running into the teacher and knocking them over. After apologising, he pushes past them into the class, taking his place next to his grinning sister. When she sees the expression on his face, she immediately asks him what’s wrong.  
“That psycho left a dead mouse in my locker,” he mutters and jerks his head towards Bill, who has changed his shirt into white for the occasion and ditched the yellow suspenders, shuddering with disgust.  
“Aww, he likes you. That’s adorable,” she giggles at him and with a groan, he covers his face.  
“This is anything but adorable, Mabel, I don’t want him to like me if that means more dead things in my locker,” he hisses at her before the class quiets at once before proceeding to the songs, calling people one by one, even going as far as ignoring the bell that rings to announce the small break between the dual hour. By the time it’s Dipper’s turn, most of the class already had their time to shine. Now all he can do is hope he doesn’t embarrass himself as he gets up and walks to the podium, turning towards the class. Here goes nothing.

How Dipper managed to land himself an A is beyond even his knowledge. He is almost 100% sure that he made many mistakes and his voice was totally off-key. Turns out he was the only one thinking that. No one had even bat an eye at his voice going up and down at the heights. He tried not to think about how Bill kept giving him looks and how his smile creeped him out, but luckily, he got himself lost in the song and didn’t pay much attention to him after. That was one good thing that has happened. So far, so good. Perhaps the other semester won’t be as bad.  
He was wrong but he was right.  
As he figures out right at the beginning, the second semester is focusing entirely on one thing only - an actual musical that everyone has to part-take in. At least the choice isn’t as bad. They are going to do the musical Hamilton, which is quite recent and it actually has an accurate plot, what is rare. Despite the fact that many are not willing, they are forced to attend. Dipper manages to stay in the background and only have a small part as well as a part in the ensemble while Mabel gets the role of Theodosia, the mistress of Aaron Burr, Hamilton’s ‘close acquaintance’ and a political rival. Everything is fine until Dipper hears that Bill is the one to score the role of Aaron Burr and even after that, Mabel tries to persuade Dipper that it’s okay. And it better be.

-

Nothing’s okay. 

Dipper is present for every practice and even if he has no role in it, he comes to watch Mabel’s part and it is pointless to say how fucking agitating it is to watch. During Bill’s musical number ‘Wait for it’ that he has with Mabel, there is plenty of touching and suggestive ideas going on. Too many for Dipper’s liking and he finds himself growling every time the scene is being rehearsed and what’s even worse, Bill always keeps looking his way with that shit-eating grin of his like he is doing all of this on purpose. Or he is imagining Dipper and Mabel’s place. He can’t decide which is worse and he honestly doesn’t even want to. He would probably commit suicide if he had to do that.

From there, Dipper finds himself on the lookout for Bill more and more often to make sure that he is going nowhere near Mabel if he doesn’t have to, meaning that Dipper is only lenient when it comes to the musical rehearsals. Even then he finds himself ready to spring into action, no matter how many times Mabel assures him that everything will work out perfectly.  
Dipper chooses to believe her, helping her practice her moves at home without all the touching on his part, finding himself able to memorise the movements quite quickly since there are no complicated moves in this one. 

-

If nothing was okay before, now everything has gone to hell. 

Mabel lied. Not willingly and she couldn’t have predicted this, but the point still stands. It just had to happen. A day before the actual /public/ performance she managed to catch a flu. And on top of that, it is almost summer.  
After a wave of short-lived hysteria coming from their Drama teacher, the person turned towards him as he was the one to deliver the bad news. And at that moment, he was ready for anything. Anything but this.  
“You!” The adult pointed at him in an accusing manner, almost jabbing him in the chest with their finger. Before Dipper could try to defend himself, the teacher continued: “You are her brother, you know the moves, right? She mentioned practicing with you. You are now Theodosia.”  
“But I can’t, you know, I am a guy and I don’t think I could exactly pull a dress-”  
“Oh, who cares! Theodosia is Theodor now, we’ll get you some clothes. Screw it, we are changing the history and breaking the standards, we now have a same-sex relationship scene, people are going to be dissatisfied, boo-hoo. Now go home and practice, Pines,” the teacher left, leaving Dipper stand there dumbfounded. This isn’t happening. There is no way he is doing this! Especially not with Bill. Speaking of the devil, he can already see the male smirking at him deviously before his vision is obstructed by someone’s hair. Looking down, Dipper finds himself looking at the face of no one else but Pacifica Northwest.  
“Listen up here, Pines. Don’t you dare ruin this like your sister. Don’t even think about ditching the role. I am not going to have my acting career ruined by your incapability, get it?”  
And he swallows, looking up at Bill again, the look in his eyes changing to determination before he nods. Two can play this game and he is totally going to win it.

After Mabel laughs at him once he tells her the news, he finds himself standing in his attic-based room, furniture cleared out to make him some room as he stares at himself in the mirror, his own scoffing reflection staring right back. He is going to show Bill that Dipper Pines isn’t someone he should be playing with.

It is only shortly before the actual performance when Dipper is standing in the back, fixing his costume, that all the nervousness and anxiety leaves him. While he is not big on fashion, one look in the mirror makes him stop. Despite the fact that he looks like himself, his eyes can’t help but wander over the clothes he is wearing: a white button up closed to the very top, creme pants, a brown waistcoat and golden accessories. All the clothes fit him snugly and he is sure that he is going to give Bill a hard time. Literally. No matter how disgusting that is, he can’t wait to see the look on his face. Now just to wait for the scene.

As the play starts, he stays in the back, waiting for the one scene where he can show Bill what is made of. Once it is his turn, he runs on the scene as it changes, lying down on the bed they have prepared in what appears to be a bedroom scene, completely with a makeshift bookshelf with paper books and only two actual books, a desk and all that jazz. Dipper closes his eyes in anticipation, his face turned to the crowd, a small smirk playing on his lips as he feels the bed dip next to him.  
When the music starts, he lets the smirk fall, waiting for Bill’s voice to come through as the lights turn on, illuminating the scene. A couple of inquisitive whispers go through the crowd.  
“Theodor writes me a letter everyday,” Bill begins, sitting up facing the crowd as his hand comes to rest on Dipper’s hip. Well, at least he is keeping up with the new script and changing the names and pronouns.  
“I'm keeping the bed warm while his husband is away,” the hand on his hip moves down his thigh and then back up as Bill sings, “He's on the British side in Georgia, he's trying to keep the colonies in line,” and he leans down, as if looking at Dipper’s face,”But he can keep all of Georgia - Theodor - he's mine,” he finishes, smirking and jumping right up from the bed, walking around it as he sings, his voice loud and clear yet still somewhat melodic.  
“Love doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints,” he points at Dipper and then at himself like it’s obvious who is the ‘sinner’ and who the ‘saint’, “It takes and it takes and it takes. And we keep loving anyway: we laugh and we cry, and we break and we make our mistakes,” he turns from the crowd to Dipper who doesn’t open his eyes yet, so he doesn’t see Bill give him a longing look.  
“And if there's a reason I'm by his side when so many have tried….then I'm willing to wait for it, I'm willing to wait for it,” he turns to the crowd, walking over to the bookshelf with swift and long strides.  
”My grandfather was a fire and brimstone preacher, but there are things that the homilies and hymns won't teach ya,” he takes one of the books, a brown leather one, opening it and looking through it before he puts it back and grabs another one, looking it over.  
“My mother was a genius,” he sings with adoration, stroking the books cover, “My father commanded respect--” those words are harsher and he actually tosses the book behind himself.  
“When they died they left no instructions…. just a legacy to protect..” At this point Dipper sits up, acting like he just woke up from a long sleep, watching Bill as the male strides to the front of the stage, his voice once again strong, “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes and it takes and it takes…” with one swift motion, he does a whole 180°, a pretty impressive one at that, as he strides over to Dipper who began singing with the ensemble in the meantime.  
“And we keep living anyway: we rise and we fall, and we break and we make our mistakes,” he raises his eyebrows when Bill kneels in front of him.  
“And if there’s a reason I’m still alive when everyone who loves me has died, I’m willing to wait for it, I’m willing to wait for it, wait for it…” Bill takes his hands and holds them, looking up at him like he is about to pop the question even though his eyes say ‘bedroom’ and his teeth scream ‘dinner’. On another hand, the sudden outburst catches him off guard and he looks genuinely surprised (and he forgets to sing with the ensemble): “I am the one thing in life I can control! I am inimitable, I am an original! I’m not falling behind or running late, I’m not standing still, I am lying in wait!” Dipper is still surprised. Bill looks sincere and wow, so many emotions in that voice of his. He is definitely getting into it.  
“Hamilton faces an endless uphill climb - he has something to prove - he has nothing to lose,” Bill tears away from Dipper, still holding one of his hands as he is turned back to the crowd again, his other hand balled into a fist, held in front of his chest.  
“Hamilton’s pace is relentless, he wastes no time. What is it like in his shoes?” The pace of the music slows down and Bill’s voice softens as he pulls Dipper into a standing position, his fist opening up and coming to rest on Dipper’s cheek.  
“Hamilton doesn’t hesitate, he exhibits no restraint. He takes and he takes and he takes and he keeps winning anyway,” the hand strokes his cheek in a loving motion and it is too late before he realises how close Bill is.  
“He changes the game, he plays and he raises the stakes…” this moment is Dipper’s call as the music starts picking up again.  
“And if there’s a reason, he seems to thrive when so few survive, then goddamnit—” Dipper pulls Bill around as their dance starts, hips swaying together. It is fierce and they are in constant motion, Dipper getting twirled around more times than he is able to count, hands moving from him to his waist, running over his hips and sides.  
“I'm willing to wait for it! I'm willing to wait for it……” the small pause is just enough for Dipper to turn around, much to Bill’s surprise, singing along as he is the one leading the dance now, his hands on Bill’s chest, pushing him backwards.  
“Life doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes and it takes and it takes..” somewhere towards the end of that line, Bill regains his composure and takes control once again, this time the one to push Dipper around.  
“And we keep living anyway: we rise and we fall, and we break and we make our mistakes: we rise, and we fall,” with another swift motion and a couple of twirls, Dipper barely registers that he is being /fucking lifted up/ and twirled around with Bill’s arms under his ass.  
“And if there's a reason I'm still alive when so many have died, then I'm willin' to—” and he is being set down again, Bill’s hands moving up his body to his face which he holds again, voice softer as he is leaning closer.  
“Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it…” Dipper and the ensemble go as Bill nears him, mouth muttering a: “Wait for it…” as the lights slowly fade out, the voices being the only thing.  
“Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait…” they slowly fade and the last thing Dipper sees is Bill’s shit eating grin as their lips almost touch before Dipper pulls away and casually struts off the stage, leaving Bill confused and somewhat disappointed. 

Looks like he will have to…..wait for it.


	2. You okay honey?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next year, he is back and ready to continue with what he has started but in the end, the feelings overcome him and run him over like a roadkill. Again.  
> He has tried so many times, but Bill Cipher is a paradox he is keen on solving but not now. Now he has other things to focus on.  
> And for the record, he is not okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back after a long time. Sorry for this. Still no proofreading cause I'm lazy.

Taking up Drama classes comes with its pros and cons.  
Considering the pros, such as clear and louder speech, motoric abilities, improvisation and a slight shift from introvertness to extrovertness, the cons appear minimal. Sure, there is still some nervousness but it is no longer as severe, so Dipper doesn’t have to worry about sweating through all his shirts. The only problematic con still remains. Namely one Bill fucking Cipher.

The performance was a great success, the male twin concludes in his head. It went much better than he had anticipated and now, Bill is hot on his trail wherever he goes. He always makes sure to be busy one way or another and never alone so Bill cannot approach him no matter how much he wants to. Dipper loves seeing how much it frustrates the thespian, though he would never admit it out loud. At least not yet.  
Praisies fly left and right after they are let off to change. He just wishes Mabel would be here to see how well he has done on stage. She would surely be proud. Although, he knows that Candy must have recorded it for her. She wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to do so. Purposely he ignores the blond man the entire time, not even bothering to change out of his costume. He can only hope that Stan will hurry up for once and arrive to the theatre on time.

To sum it up, the rest of the days left until the end of the school year are a pure bliss. Bill doesn’t bother him as much, but keeps looking his way while trying to start a conversation, but Dipper always gives him a cold shoulder and engages in different activities.  
To his own surprise, Bill gets the message, at least temporarily, and stops the fruitless tries to make Dipper talk to him. And the Pines boy is happy for it.

The end of the year comes quicker than he expects it to. Luckily, that’s a good thing and looking at his grades, he is pretty satisfied with his work this year. Straight As adorning his report. Even Stan is proud of his work.

-

Of course when the opportunity comes, he immediately signs himself for Drama again. He is not the best, but from what he has gathered, his voice is kind of nice even with the fucking heights. Despite that, he turns his flaw into what he likes to call ‘an acquired talent’, what is ultimately bullshit but it gives him the boost of self confidence he so desperately needs.

As summer comes to an end, he finds himself looking forward to tormenting Bill again, since he is still 100% sure that the male is after him, and yes, he has evidence.  
During summer, he had his fair share of ‘flings’. Said flings being making out with one girl awkwardly on some music festival. It was short-lived, but it gave him some perspective and future insights regarding what is popularly labelled as ‘sloppy makeouts’.

And he is ready to make a comeback.

First day back at school is the easiest one. There is nothing to be done yet. They will simply get their schedules and find their classrooms, talk with friends - the usual stuff. Since it’s still basically summer and the weather is perfect, Dipper opts for wearing denim shorts and a simple (a little tight) dark gray shirt together with his usual hat. It doesn’t go together well, but Dipper couldn’t care less about the fashion statement he is making - unlike Mabel obviously, who once again looks like a walking craft store, but better. Like, actually good.

The twins walk into their homeroom class, chatting away about their holiday, joking about their summer romances. Or well, as close to them as they could get, especially Dipper with his awkwardness. Mabel has even started jokingly saying that he should consider dating Bill, since he does seem to fancy Dipper even with all his quirks. Dipper brushes that aside, though he can hear the cackling of his sister when he finds a single red rose laid across his usual desk. With a sigh he takes it, cursing when he prickles his finger on one of its thorns. With his other hand, he pulls at the note hanging from it, looking at the text.

“In c▲se ▲n ▼ld l▲dy ▲sks, y▼u h▲ven’t seen me ▲nd y▼u d▼n’t kn▼w ▲b▼ut the dem▼lished fl▼wer st▲nd ▼n the street y▼u live ▼n.”

He hopes the look on his face reflects the distaste he feels deep inside of him. It is slightly sweet, but seriously, what the fuck, Bill. He folds the note and shoves it into his back pocket, looking around the classroom until he spots bill staring at him creepily from the other side. He gives him a smile and flips him off before taking his place with the rose laid out in front of him.

The rest of the day goes without any incidents and by the time Dipper and Mabel make it home, he is completely exhausted. Somehow, the rose has survived until now. Once they are home, he hurries to put it into water. Even if Bill is…..Bill, he still appreciates the gesture, finding himself looking at the rose every time he passes it.  
He doesn’t want to admit it, but he is looking forward to teasing Bill some more. He just needs help with some ideas. Well, time to browse the internet’s deepest and darkest corners.

-

“Maybe we could do Les Misérables?” Mabel suggests, scratching her cheek with the eraser at the end of her newly bedazzled pencil. Dipper scoffs at her, crumpling the paper under his hand. He doesn’t even aim as he throws it across the room.  
“If we do that, the only le miserable thing here is going to be me.”  
“Put that thing back where it came from or so help me..?”  
“Did you just reference Monsters inc.? Gah, I am being serious here, Mabel!”  
“Well nice to meet you Mr. Serious, I am Mike Wazowski,” and with a giggle, she pulls her green sweater over her head, pretending the head hole is his eye.  
“Why so serious, Mr. Grumpy-cat?”  
“Mabel! Are you even listening to me?!”  
“Nope!”  
“I mean it. I need to come up with something.”  
“HairSpray?”  
“I am sure he wears plenty of that…”  
“Phantom of the Opera?”  
“While Bill would fit the role of the Phantom really good, I don’t think there is anything else to it?”  
“To be honest, I think you are making this more difficult that it needs to be, Dipper!”  
And she is right. He submits and admits his defeat while Mabel chants ‘Alpha twin!’ in the background.

They are a month into the first semester and they have already been given the task of choosing yet another musical to do. It’s a task that is not easy at all - everyone has different tastes and likes and choosing one that would fit everyone is almost impossible. And, on top of that, Dipper needs to tantalise Bill even more and using the year’s project to do so? A plan by a genius. Or so he tells himself.

It takes a while to find a musical like that. Dipper has to stay open to all options and Mabel seconds that. In the end, they both agree on an old classic - the Rent - and by the time they go to sleep, Mabel has already all people casted into roles. And her first choice for Bill is Angel. A transgender drag queen who is also the interest of Tom Collins, to be played by Dipper.  
Said male isn’t all too sure if he is fit for the role, but if Mabel say so, then it must be true.

-

The following week after the announcement that this year’s musical is going to be ‘Rent’, the whole class gets to work. They all get their scripts, starting to practice the lines in class and acting individual scenes together. Bill takes his role quite seriously. He asks for make-up lessons from Mabel and Pacifica as well as lessons on walking around in high heels. He has actually started walking around in them around in the halls, black stilettos polished, heels clicking against the floor elegantly. His long legs are impossible.

It is nearly the end of October, and after their English lessons, the twins meet in the hallway again, dealing on walking to Drama together, planning on stopping by Dipper’s locker so that he can drop off the book he’s been reading, 1984 by Orwell. Captivating and a very quality piece of literature.  
While Mabel talks his ear off about her duet with some cute girl from their class (he cannot recall her name, just knows that she is cute), his thoughts drift away to his unfortunate luck of being paired with Bill again. And, on top of that, he had to listen to all the comments the teacher made about their previous performance and how ‘in harmony’ they seemed to be. He deems it a bullshit then and there, though he supposes it wasn’t as bad as he had imagined it previously and it was very fun. At least to some degree. Especially watching the expression on Bill’s face after he casually walked away after giving him the hope of a kiss. Oh, and he is going to do it again. Bill had his time tormenting him - and Dipper plans on returning the favour.  
When they reach his locker, he stops, staring at its door for a second before nudging his sister with his elbow.  
“Mabel, tell me, do you see what I see?” He blinks slowly, looking at what appears to be a skinned roadkill raccoon pelt draped over the door of his locker with a small note pinned to its back. He reaches out and carefully plucks it away, looking at it for a second.  
“ ‘This r▲cc▼▼n reminded me ▼f y▼u. xoxo’,” he reads out loud and then folds the note in a half and stuffs it into his pocket with a sigh,” Well, I can definitely see the resemblance - I am pretty dead inside and I feel like I’ve been run over by a trucker.”  
“This is so romantic,” Mabel chimes in, taking out her phone to take a picture of Dipper with the racoon.

“Smile, Dip-dop!” She laughs and snaps a picture of Dipper looking totally done, but still doing an ironic peace sign for the picture. After she takes it, he rolls his eyes and tosses his backpack, as well as his book, down on the floor, leaving Mabel behind. He sneaks his way to the janitor’s closet, easily unlocking it (YouTube is a wonderful place). He pulls on the used rubber gloves, grabbing a broom and a trash bag. Dragging the black bag behind himself, he is soon back to the lockers, gesturing at Mabel to hold the bag open as he uses the broom to dismantle the raccoon's remains from his locker, tossing it into the bag. Then, he proceeds to wipe any remaining blood and suspicious bits of viscera hanging around, tossing the broom in the trash as well.  
“I hope no one is going to miss this,” he sighs and tosses the gloves in, tying the bag. He puts his book in his free locker now, and on their way to Drama, he tosses the bag out of the ground-floor window. Hopefully no one is going to question it.

Upon their arrival, the class is bustling with life. The students are in their usual cliques, talking among them about something undoubtedly exciting. Dipper tries to solve the mystery right from his spot in the door, but he is quickly brought to reality when Mabel waves a paper in front of his face.  
“Maybe if you would stop that, Mabel, I would be actually able to read it,” he snaps at his sister, tearing the offending paper from her hand, managing to crumple it in the process.  
“November assignment: a duet or a group performance,” he reads the task out loud, finding himself frowning over the text, biting on his lower lip.  
“So do you want to---”  
“Yes, of course. I thought you would never ask, Pines.”  
He stops and looks up. The voice doesn’t belong to Mabel, but Bill. His sister is already gone and he is left alone with Bill while she talks to another large group.  
“You know that question wasn’t directed at you---”  
“Yes, I am aware but then again, I am the only one here.”  
“Technically there are about 17 other people---”  
“But they all have a partner. Or partners. I was saving myself for you and I am glad I managed to seize the opportunity. We are going to make an excellent pair.”  
“I highly doubt that--”  
“Hush, hush, Pines, I am the last one left, therefore you have no choice.”

With a groan, Dipper realises that he has no other choice, stuck with accepting Bill’s ‘offer’.  
He will have to remind Mabel of her betrayal later. He is thinking about eating her share of the ice cream Grunkle Stan bought - well, ‘bought’ - the other day.  
He is pulled out of his thoughts by Bill shoving his obnoxiously black and yellow iPhone right in his face, his face pressed right against Dipper’s while he is showing him something and talking about it. Dipper’s thoughts immediately go ‘He is going to make a great Angel.’

“So what do you say?” He is shaken right out of his trance by Bill blatant yelling right in his right ear.  
“Shut up and let me at least look at it before you start monologuing again,” Dipper sighs and takes the phone from Bill’s hand, checking the song lyrics on the screen.  
“ ‘Anything you can do, I can do better’ ?” He lifts his eyebrows, turning to look at the grinning man next to him,” Are you serious? This is like the typical couple song, look at this!” He points at the parts of the lyrics that get a little weird.  
“And your point is?” Bill narrows his eyes at Dipper like it’s no problem at all. Actually, now that he has had the chance to think it over, he must agree that there is nothing really wrong with it aside from:  
“But who is doing the woman and who the man?” He swears he can see Bill facepalming in his head and he is momentarily impressed by the man’s self-control.

“How about you do the female part and I the male? After all, your voice has such a cute squeak to it! It’s the most adorable!”  
“Bill, I swear that if you say that one more time, I’ll hit you. I am a manly man and my voice is totally the manliest thing you have ever heard--”  
“Sure thing, your floppy noodle arms are fucking scary. You should wrap them around me and hold me, Mr. Manly Man,” Bill gives him a lopsided grin, nagging him about the parts again, until eventually Dipper grows frustrated, throwing his hands in the air. They deal on tossing a coin instead. Head for Bill as the male, tail for Dipper as the male. 

Since Dipper doesn’t trust Bill one bit, he takes the coin and tosses it himself, covering it as it lands on his hand.  
“Okay….3, 2, 1, go…” he lifts his hand, greeted by the picture of Lincoln’s head.  
“Oh you have to be kidding me!” He shouts out loud, making a few people turn their way but they don’t stay turned for too long.  
“I demand a rematch!” The brunet frowns, tossing the coin at Bill in frustration.  
“Sorry, Mr. Manly Man, I am afraid you will have to be the ‘lady’ in this relationship,” the other laughs at him and ruffles Dipper’s auburn curls, keeping his hand there for a while longer than appropriate.  
“I suggest we meet on Friday to start practicing. Your place at 6! I’ll be there at 5 to make sure you don’t eat all the snacks yourself, haha!” Bill gets up as it rings, leaning down for what Dipper assumes is about to be a goodbye kiss but luckily for Dipper, he has fast (enough) reflexes, managing to smack his hand into Bill’s face before he gets too close. Unphased by this, Bill kisses the back of Dipper’s hand with a smirk, leaving along with the bell. Only two things are sure: this was the most cringeworthy moment of his life and he is positively freaking out about this experience. 

The week goes by too fast for Dipper’s liking and soon, Friday comes around and he finds himself panicking just a little over Bill’s surprise visit. Snacks fly right over his head, but luckily he at least manages to microwave the leftover packets of buttery popcorn and stack some Pitt Cola in his attic-based room, nervously waiting for the before-mentioned ambush. It’s well past five when he decides to just go downstairs and wait for Bill there like he is some kind of a lovesick girl waiting for her prom date (who is late) to come pick her up.  
Once downstairs, he passes by a very haphazardly dressed Stan, what is something he really didn’t need to see.  
“If you are looking for your boyfriend, I already sent him upstairs,” the old man announces in a bored voice, squinting at the movie currently playing on the screen.  
“What? I don’t have a boyfr-- oh for fuck’s sake, I am going to murder him....” 

Infuriated, and just mildly embarrassed, he jogs back up to his room, forgetting about Bill for a moment. Or at least until he sees him sprawled across his bed with a can of Pitt in his hand and other buried in the popcorn bowl.  
“Surpriiiise~!” Bill coos at him, waving his fingers at him before shoveling some popcorn into his mouth, getting kernels everywhere.  
“I-- okay, you know what I am not even going to ask. I just don’t care how you got here but whatever….” he sighs and rubs his face, slamming his door shut.  
“You wanted to practice so stop being lazy and let’s give it a shot…”

It takes good fifteen minutes for Dipper to persuade Bill to get up and help him find the lyrics on his laptop. And only then they can get to work.  
It isn’t as bad aside from Bill getting too close to him during the ‘I can say anything softer than you’. It gets kind of creepy, but with a great amount of Pitt Cola in his system comes a great amount of confidence and soon, he finds himself not being disturbed by Bill’s closeness all that much. Even though Bill has probably never heard of such thing as ‘personal space’. Better remind him to google it later.

Around eight, Dipper decides that it was enough for today, his vocal chords not working properly anymore. Leaving Bill alone for a while to pack his belongings, he pays a visit to the bathroom to rinse his mouth and wash his face, brushing his hair back for a while. He uses a towel to wipe himself down, pushing his hair back down. He plans on staying a little longer, but the sound of Bill singing catches his attention and he returns to his room in time to be grabbed by the taller male and twirled around, eventually crashing his back right against Bill’s chest. Hands move from his hands to his thighs as Bill sings in the loudest volume possible. What comes out of his mouth next is what makes Dipper lose his mind completely.

“Loosen that zipper, zipper, show me that big dipper!”

And when Mabel questions the suspicious blood stain on the wooden floorboards and a hole in the wall, he simply shrugs and retorts with: “We had a raccoon here.”

-

The more they practice together, the more Dipper grows used to Bill randomly sneaking into his house at the most inconvenient times. After a while, he stops questioning Bill about how he got in as he doesn’t believe that Grunkle Stan would even let him in after the last time. Bill’s weird visits only get more frequent as the time goes, always having the same excuse: practice. During the short amount of time they have to practice the duet, the crazy man has managed to catch Dipper coming out of the shower in only a towel, to almost stab his eye out while he was following Dipper home (he only admitted this to Mabel who then told Dipper after she questioned him why the hell is he wearing an eyepatch), to come close to destroying half of Dipper’s books in a ‘fire accident’ and to scare the shit out of him multiple times.  
He no longer even looks Bill’s way as he finds the boy sitting in the open window and smoking, passing right by him to go sleep right away. It’s nothing new. When he wakes up next though, there is something new and odd and with a brisk and majestic flop, he finds himself facing one Bill Cipher. In his bed. With his arms around him. Sleeping.

After that little incident, he makes sure to never leave Bill unsupervised in his presence, especially if he decides to go to sleep.

The term of the duet performance cuts short and Dipper has no chance of registering when it happens but the next thing he knows, he is heading for the small makeshift stage in front of the class together with Bill at his side. Said male has also insisted that they ‘dress up’ for the occasion, meaning that while he gets to wear what can only be described as typical ‘bad boy’ clothes, Dipper is stuck in something from Mabel’s wardrobe. Surprisingly, her clothes fit him snugly, the high-waisted shorts (not really shorts since they end above his knees) hugging his hips well, the pale red (not pink, it’s pale red) shirt a little short for him, exposing just a little of his waist. Bill had insisted on feminine clothing for whatever reason.  
And thus their performance starts. Dipper throws in his best sassy girl impression, managing to jab Bill in the chest several times when he gets too close, screaming ‘Yes, I can!’ into his ear as loudly as possible, to almost faint and to top it, to get spit in his face. Not to mention how close they got during the ‘I can say anything sweeter than you’ part. Oh, he definitely wasn’t blushing just a little during that.

The same night, Bill comes once again. Without even looking at the clock, Dipper can tell it’s 1am by the position of the moon. He isn’t all that surprised when he sees a familiar shadow resting on his window sill, but he is too tired for this. Getting up, he trudges towards the open window, dragging his blanket along with him. He doesn’t spare the teen a second glance, slamming the window shut. The impact throws the blond’s balance off, making him tumble down the roof and into a pile of leaves.  
Bill doesn’t blame him for breaking his arm the next day, but he merely asks Dipper to sign his cast. He doesn’t fail to notice that by the end of the day, his message ‘Don’t climb my windows at 1am -Dipper’ ends up marked with a heart in a red marker.  
After that, the days go by in a blur of colours and events. As Mabel and Dipper won the ‘suggest this year’s play’, which indeed ended up being RENT the Musical, they are also obliged to choose their actors. Since that is a thing, Mabel outright suggests that Dipper goes in for Tom Collins, a gay anarchist and a part-time professor, and she doesn’t fail to mention to Bill that he should try auditioning for Angel, saying that he would be perfect for the role. From the corners of his eyes, Dipper sees that the male is mildly intrigued by the role’s challenge, but only agrees to try for it after Mabel ‘accidentally’ mentions that Dipper is auditioning for the role of Angel’s lover.

Push comes to shove and the autumn leaves are gone quicker than Mabel’s hangover after Smiley Dip. With snow and winter, Christmas nears the jolly little town of Gravity Falls. And Christmas means giving and receiving gifts. Honestly, Dipper is a little scared when it comes to gifts since he already knows that a certain someone has no idea about actual sensible gifts, therefore he is already expecting the worst from this season.  
If he is not in school, library or practicing, his free time is spent outside in the snow, having snowball fights with Mabel and their friends or utilising Mabel’s artistic skill at sculpting Grunkle Stan from snow and then running him over with the makeshift sleigh Soos made them.  
More often than not he can see Bill’s shadow looming in the distance, watching them. It leaves him wondering why the boy won’t join, but he forgets that as soon as he gets smacked in the face by a ball full of ice coming somewhere from Grenda’s side.

“Have you ever noticed how Bill always wears only a shirt and a jacket?” Mabel asks once they come home and shed their wet clothes, walking to the kitchen together so she can prepare them her infamous hot chocolate.  
“Not really? Maybe he just isn’t all that cold,” Dipper shrugs and takes a seat at the dining table, putting his hands over his ears to warm them up.  
“Everybody gets cold during winter, Dip-dop! Even Waddles. That’s why I made him a cute little sweater!” She laughs as she pulls out all the ingredients she is going to need before pausing and gasping.  
“Oh, I know! I’ll knit him a sweater! He is bound to love it. It’s going to be yellow and snappy! Just like always!”  
Dipper rolls his eyes at that, snorting quietly as he imagines Bill wearing one of Mabel’s infamous sweaters.  
“Okay, good luck with that. Maybe you should ask him just to be safe.”  
“Oh psh, everybody loves Mabel’s sweaters. Everybody! That means you too, brozilla. don’t try to deny it.” 

And he doesn’t.

-

During the following week, Mabel gifts Bill the newly made sweater. It’s the brightest yellow in colour (seriously, his eyes hurt from looking at it) with a pattern of blue eyes with long lashes on them. It screams Bill. Mabel also screams Bill when he lifts her and hugs her so strongly, she almost stops breathing. After she starts wheezing, Bill finally sets her down and pulls the obnoxious canary yellow sweater over his head. It’s surprisingly big on his lanky figure, but it also makes him look kind of cute. And like Big Bird, he says once he gets closer to them so he can tug Mabel away. He doesn’t see the look Bill and Mabel share behind his back. 

What he sees, however, are those short meetings of the two of them. Sometimes, they will just randomly both disappear and then appear 5 minutes later, still sharing hushed whispers. He doesn’t like it for some reason. Not that he is jealous but he is very protective of his sister when it comes to potential boyfriends. Okay, scratch that, Bill isn’t a potential boyfriend for her. No way.

This continues for about two more weeks, but a few days before winter holiday, and just when Dipper thinks that things cannot get any worse, he gets a surprise in the form of Bill sitting on the floor in their living room, holding the same canary yellow yarn which was used in his previous sweater for a knitting Mabel.  
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He blurts out, eyes glued to the yellow mess that are Bill’s present and future sweaters.  
“Uh-oh, language, mister,” Bill grins and holds up the yarn in his hands.  
“I asked Shooting Star to make me another one of these fancy sweaters and with my own design too. I’m sure you’ll like it-- hey, why the long face, Pine Tree? Where is your Christmas spirit?”  
“Dead, gone and buried in the backyard with Stan’s gold.”

That makes Bill pout just a little before he is back to grinning brightly.  
“Aw, looks like someone is….yarning for attention,” he laughs loudly, making Dipper sigh with frustration as he retreats back to his room, running into his other Grunkle, Ford, in the hallway. They share a curt nod and continue onwards to their destinations, Dipper to his bedroom and Ford through the living room and into the basement. He passes Mabel and Bill on his way, greeting them both before he is gone. He doesn’t even seem to register Bill’s presence, but Bill does notice him, looking at him until he is gone. Afterwards, he turns to Mabel with only one thing to say: “Damn, I wouldn’t mind if Pine Tree grew into that.”

Luckily, Dipper doesn’t see Bill for quite a while after that and he is honestly happy for that. His days are spent alternating between school, library, bed and pleading Grunkle Stan to get them a real baked turkey for Christmas for once since Ford is home too. It takes several tries but in the end, he does promise to ‘buy’ a turkey for them under the condition that they are in charge of preparing it. Better pray there are not going to be any plastic dinosaurs inside.

Stan ends up getting the turkey as he promised along with some potatoes as a side dish. The teens know that he hardly bought it but neither question it as they can finally have a decent family holiday dinner for once.

Okay, scratch ‘decent’ and ‘family’ from the list. Somehow, Mabel has ended up inviting Bill over for the dinner without running it by either of the Grunkles or Dipper. That’s why Dipper looks so dumbfounded standing in the kitchen’s doorway, staring at the hideous canary yellow sweater with picture of a decapitated reindeer and the text ‘Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose. HAD.’ on it along with its equally hideously bright owner. Dipper grimaces and looks at the other inhabitants of the house, ignoring the abundance of Mabel-made sweaters on everyone (including the pig). He approaches the table, glaring at the empty spot beside Bill and then at Mabel for doing this to him. With a sigh he sits down, not forgetting to stomp on Bill’s foot while he does that.  
“What are you doing here?” He hisses between his teeth, trying to be inconspicuous about it but he knows that Mabel knows just from the mere look of disapproval she gives him from across the table. However it is enough to shut him, and by extension Bill, for the rest of the dinner. Bill’s polite behaviour comes across as a pleasant change for all of them, with Dipper in lead, and they even manage to get along and crack some jokes together.

After the dinner, the twins tidy up with a little of Bill’s help on the side, keeping the kitchen silent for the bigger part. Dipper rather remains silent, wanting to have this over with already, planning on escaping the kitchen as soon as possible so he can go to sleep, but before that can happen, he is stopped by Mabel’s hand.  
“Oh, by the way! I invited Bill to also stay the night! I hope you don’t mind him crashing in your room! Haha, no? Okay, that’s good to hear, good night bro-bro!”  
And she leaves him standing in the middle of the kitchen with a mild look of horror on his face. However, it soon turns to a lax ‘I don’t give a fuck anymore’ look that accompanies him all the way to his room and to his bed. There, he momentarily forgets about his sister’s words.

At least until he feels an extra weight on the bed and within seconds at his side too, feeling unfamiliar warm air on the back of his neck. He barely registers it’s Bill and he is saying something, too tired to care. He manages to fall asleep before the invader is even finished speaking.

The night goes by without any real incidents or extras from Bill’s side. Up until the morning when Dipper wakes up to someone jumping on him and screaming. A minute of waking up later and he finds that it’s Mabel screaming something about presents. For a minute, he is confused, but then ‘oh’s and sits up, effectively pushing his twin off the bed and on the floor. She is quick to get up and run out, though, so with a yawn, he joins her, jogging down the stairs.

Bill is already sitting on the floor and the Grunkles are silently bickering over Stan’s usual seat, rowdy enough not to notice Dipper come into the room. He doesn’t mind that, taking a seat near the tree. After a while, he clears his throat, catching the attention of the older set of twins. They silently apologise and Ford pulls a chair from the kitchen to sit on while Stan sinks into his old armchair.

Mabel is the first one to reach for the tree, taking the presents under it one by one, distributing them among the people in the room. Both of the twins get four presents each, the grunkles three each and Bill only one, but he does seem to be happy about it either way. Now that dipper thinks of it, he hasn’t even thought about giving Bill anything.  
Mabel is also the first one to open all her presents with a loud noise, squealing loudly at all of them. With a slight hint of a smile on his lips, Dipper turns to his presents, opening them one by one. It’s mostly just practical stuff he needs, most of those are books for research along with a few trinkets and a handmade card from Mabel and some old documents from Ford in a separate folder with a small note of ‘Top Secret’.  
Casting his look at the last gift in his lap, he squints at the glittery gold paper and the shitty job Bill has done with wrapping the present up. He is honestly afraid to open it.

From the sidelines, Mabel is encouraging him to already open his gift, squeezing what looks like a monstrous cross between a fish, a pig and a unicorn covered in a thick layer of sequins fur and glitter. Swallowing, Dipper looks down at the present in his lap, taking a deep breath as he tears the gold wrapping open. The first thing he sees is a snow globe. Upon closer inspection, the snow globe has one of the world’s tiniest crime scenes inside of it, completely with all the things a proper crime scene must have. Out of curiosity, he shakes it, watching the ‘blood’ swim around in the globe. That was a clever idea, wow.

The second thing he pulls out of the wrapping is surprisingly furry. Just like Mabel’s gift, it’s a stuffed toy. Instead of a hideous combination of multiple species, the one in his hand is an all-too-realistic replica of just another roadkill raccoon. He looks up at Bill, raising his eyebrows at the shit-eating grin Bill flashes right back.  
“Very funny, Cipher. Very funny…” he clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, setting his gifts aside so he can take the wrappings and take them to the trash. But there seems to be more. A heavy leather-bound book falls out and straight on his toe, making him curse in a manner that Stan would be proud of if he had not left the room a good while ago. He picks it up, frowning at the cover as it doesn’t seem to display any text. He looks at it all confused, looking at Bill again only to find that the blond is no longer there. Sighing he sets it down and goes to throw the wrappings out, grabbing his gifts on the way back, carrying them into his room, setting them down on his bed. He puts everything where it belongs: books on the bookshelves, papers in the drawer, snowglobe on the desk along with the trinkets and card. He then stares at the roadkill toy before tossing it on his bed haphazardly, crawling under the covers next to it, planning on getting a little more sleep before lunch.

He doesn’t expect to sleep right through it and wake up in the late afternoon. When he checks his phone, it already says 4:30pm. Yet, he doesn’t feel rested at all. With a grunt, he lets go of the hideous roadkill plush and rolls onto his back, sitting up slowly. After rubbing his eyes some more until the sleep is gone from them, he looks up, his jaw immediately going slack. His entire room is dark, blinds pulled down, and all over it are long strings with small stars on them, shining in the darkness. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish, unable to comprehend what exactly is going on and where did those come from. Sometime during his staring, he notices a post-it note stuck on the door: ‘▲b▼ut time I’ve d▼ne s▼mething nice, huh?’  
He peels the note off and snorts, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it straight into the trashcan.  
“This is stupid…” he grunts and looks at the stars again, clicking his tongue before he pulls out his computer and sits on the bed with it, set on finding something for Bill that is crazy enough.

He keeps the gift a secret for as long as he can, hoping that he can hold it off at least until school starts. The rest of the holiday are spent alternating between unconsciously trying to kick Mabel out of his star-filled room, staring at said stars and getting ready for the start of the second semester. Once the holidays come to an end, he is awaken from his holiday-ridden drunken stupor and thrown back into the cold water of the real life and a depressing little thing called school.

As soon as he is past the entrance to the hellhole, he immediately goes to utilise the skills Grunkle Stan taught him a while ago. Namely lock picking with minor hints of trespassing and breaking into someone else’s locker. Obviously, it doesn’t count since Bill has broken into his many times before so Dipper is basically ‘paying the debt’ now. He places the neatly wrapped box into Bill’s locker, slamming it shut afterwards. He makes a run for it before anyone else can notice his presence and suspicious activity. The box contains a small glass prism (pyramid) that reflects light and has a tiny galaxy inside. He is pretty sure Bill is going to love it.  
Not even Mabel knows about the gift so he is also sure that she is going to be the first one who will know about it straight from Bill’s mouth. And then she will tell him. That’s how you get first hand information, kids. Having a gossiping sister is always a good thing. Unless it’s you she is gossiping about.

Mabel stays true to her word. Three hours later, she crashes into her brother in the hallway, pulling him aside. Just by the grin on her face, Dipper can tell she has some good news. Luckily for him, she waits until there is no one near them before finally beginning to speak.  
“I don’t know what you gave him but he is so giddy about it! You should have seen him, he was grinning like a madman and I swear that when he thought I wasn’t looking, he screamed into his hand,” she accompanies her explanation with wild hand gestures, rocking back and forth on the soles of her feet.

“Nothing much, just a small trinket.” Dipper waves his hand about it, brushing it off as if it was a fuss about nothing, although he can’t help but chuckle just the tiniest bit at the image of Bill screaming into his hand. Now that is getting his plan back into track. Showing Bill that he is no one to mess with and that he can play this game too.

Unknown to him is the fact that Mabel is onto them since the two of them are as obvious at the Sun in the sky on a sunny day. She isn’t the only one who has noticed so far but she wouldn’t tell Dipper and rather let him enjoy his ‘romance’. It’s honestly adorable and she is pretty sure that if she asked about it, Dipper would brush that off as well, maybe even blush and splutter if she is lucky enough.

She doesn’t respond to Dipper’s rambling which she totally ignored in favour of her own internal debate.  
“Sure thing, bro-bro. Now come on, you don’t want to be late to Drama,” she winks at him and grabs his arm, pulling him through the crowd of people. He attempts to protest but seeing as his sister is dead set on dragging him to class, he gives in, letting her do so.

He knows that he cannot avoid Bill forever but he still attempts to, not looking his way unless they are rehearsing a scene where the two of them are singing or interacting together. Dipper stops counting the times he almost loses it when Bill walks around in high heels. Luckily, in the end, he decided to ditch them, returning them to their previous owner. He has no idea how he would handle the actual thing on stage.

By having fun, no one registers how fast the time flies past. By February, they have most of the play memorised, having only minor details to deal with and costumes to make. But that doesn’t mean there is no more place for rehearsing more!  
The joys finally catch up to Dipper mid-February one chilly morning when he’s dragging himself to school by Mabel’s side. Of course, she is as energetic as ever, having downed an entire serving worth a family of Mabel Juice, still spitting glitter every once in a while. Luckily, no plastic dinosaurs were harmed in the making. Or consuming.

“Dipper! Dipperrrrrrrrrr! Do you know what day it is today?” Mabel sings into his ear, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.  
“Thursday?” He questions, rubbing at the bags under his eyes absent-mindedly. He doesn’t really know what the whole deal is with Mabel asking and being so clingy.  
“No, silly! It’s Valentine’s day!” She laughs and messes up his hair, pulling him towards the building at a record speed.

Dipper’s memories of Valentine’s are always terrible ones. He either got nothing or got made fun of and he would honestly be rather ignored than be bullied.  
He groans at the mention, covering his face.  
“Why did you have to remind me?” He turns to her, pushing her away gently.  
“You know how I feel about this whole thing, right? It’s just a commercial propaganda that tricks people into buying overly-priced gifts, flowers and chocolates. If you really like someone that much, you should not be restricted to one single day of ‘giving love’ and pretend to be all romantic about it. I mean what even is the appeal of it? It’s just so unnerving. You are free to show your love in any way to anyone on any day. So why is it still a thing?” He grabs his head, tugging on his hair a little neurotically to emphasise his point as he nears his locker.

“And another thing--” he begins, unlocking his locker only to come face-to-face with another bizarre sight. In front of his books, there is a neatly placed and hauntingly accurate human heart, its walls contracting as if it were still beating. Also, there is a note attached to it.  
It reads: ‘I’d rip my he▲rt ▼ut f▼r y▼u if I h▲d ▼ne, s▼ here’s this ▼ne th▲t I st▼le fr▼m the cry▼genic ▼rg▲n st▼r▲ge in the h▼spit▲l d▼wnt▼wn. xoxo’  
He doesn’t say anything. He just simply stares at the sight in front of him without any hint of other emotions. Mabel gives him a look but he doesn’t return it, simply grabbing his books for the following lesson, slamming the locker door shut.  
“Dipper what--?” She tries but he holds up his hand to stop her from continuing.  
“Don’t say a word. I need to talk to Bill. Maybe not now but surely during the lunch break,” he takes a deep breath and tries to make something out of the things he just saw. 

There is no logical sequence as to what he has just witnessed and no matter how hard he tries, there is only one outcome….well, actually two. Bill Cipher is a creep, first of all, and second of all, he’s got it bad. And not the good kind.

So he decides to corner Bill about it after all, yet Bill seems to find him first during the lunch break, catching Dipper by surprise when the blond crashes into him from the side, wrapping his arms around him.  
“Hey there, Pines! Did you like my gift?” He basically yells in Dipper’s ear, making him cringe at the volume.  
“.....well, I must admit it was pretty creative..was that a real heart?”  
“Maybe...but how about the other one?”  
“Um, yeah that was nice, thanks…” he laughs nervously. He didn’t notice anything but that was maybe because he was too shocked. He will have to give it another try.  
“Um, listen, can you let go of me now? The break ends in a couple of minutes and I still didn’t get any food.”  
“Hmmm. I will. But under only one condition. I want a ‘thank you’ kiss,” Bil smirks and wiggles his eyebrows at him. Dipper makes a face, shaking his head, absolutely refusing to do so.

This goes on for a good while and the closer it gets to the end of the break, the more nervous he gets, glancing around to see if anyone comes by to save him from his misfortune. No one does, so when there are only two minutes left, he gives in with a loud sigh.  
“Fine. One peck and you’ll let me go. Deal?” He looks up at Bill who nods with that manic grin of his. Dipper is almost sure that it must hurt.  
“Deal,” Bill echoes right back, pursing his lips a little to accept the kiss. However, it looks like Dipper has other plans, instead pressing a quick kiss to Bill’s cheek. He then wiggles free and makes a quick run for it, leaving Bill standing there with an even bigger grin on his face.

Despite everything, it leaves Dipper red and slightly out of breath but then again, that might be the mad run he just went through to get away from Bill and as close to his classroom as he could. 

Just then his growling stomach reminds him about the lunch he missed. Perfect.

-

Avoiding Bill after that incident becomes a task hard to be done, especially when Bill always finds the best time to rub the kiss in his face. It’s annoying, but as long as it’s nothing else, he can deal with it. The small gift turned out to be a thin bracelet with constellations hanging from it. It’s honestly a great gift but he doesn’t know what to think about this entire thing. He just knows that what was a joke before turned out to be a full-on courting experience. One that Dipper never went through. 

He himself just outright sucks at flirting, what is obvious, but he also sucks at detecting it. There was a chance of about 1 in 100 that something like this would have happened to someone like him but alas, look at him now. It’s just strange and new although he is sure that this isn’t the way to do it. Should he give in, though? Is Bill...could he be the one? Hardly but there is a first time for everything….he might give it a chance later. Might.

He will think it through later. Now he has to practice yet again.

Bill continues bothering him every once in a while, leaving him conflicted about his own feelings and logical conclusions, making him question all of his hypothesis and whether he had or had not been right in many things.  
In short, Bill Cipher is a paradox of the finest (yes, finest) degree and even someone like Dipper Pines must admit that.

The greatest minds could combine to brainstorm over the possibility of Bill being an actual alien, deriving formulas by the rules of Pythagorean school and its theorems because apparently the Early Philosophers knew what they were doing at least until fucking Zenon came with the Achilles vs. Turtle paradox which brings us back to the beginning and the conclusion, that after the circle (more of a clumsily drawn ellipse) of stupidity is complete, we get the equation of ‘Bill Cipher = a paradox’. And that’s it. It’s only a fragment of the possible solution, but let’s face it, who would dedicate their life to that. Definitely not Dipper.

As the final performance nears, Dipper can feel himself grow steadily nervous. It’s been a while since that has happened, so he is a little confused by it but he lets it slide for the time being. 

At last until a day or two before the show, lying in bed and overthinking his current life and possible future outcomes, Dipper finally comes to a final solution to his feelings, ending up freaking up about it. He just realised he might be in love with Bill Cipher. He also might be scared of that fact.

The realisation doesn’t let him sleep for the remaining days, leaving him with dark bags underneath his eyes when the time for the show comes. It’s as if with a snap of his fingers that he finds himself sitting in the dressing room alone, hands working the buttons of his flannel shirt with agility and surprising precision, his own hazel eyes staring right back at him from the mirror. Gulping nervously, he fixes the very last one, abruptly getting up from his seat. As last year, he finds himself suddenly ridden of his worries and fears but enriched by a solution to the whole problem. Not the wisest one but hey, he doesn’t think of himself as too much of a brainiac. Just..a moderate one. Maybe a little bit more.

With one last look at himself, he takes a deep breath, exiting the room. He walks up to the stage, standing on the side. There he unbuttons all of the flannel’s buttons with ease, fixing his shirt before he throws a dark trench coat on himself, giving thumbs up to Candy up by the lighting and technological stuff, signalling he is ready. The others group nearby as they get ready for the opening singing number. Before they can, however, Mabel stops Dipper and puts a beanie on his head, making sure to keep his hair messy, and a scarf haphazardly around his neck.  
“There; now you are good to go,” she laughs and holds her own thumb up to Candy who nods and gives thumbs up to the two actors that begin the scene as soon as the curtains are open. Mark and Roger, two roommates struggling to stay warm while waiting for Collins. The boy who plays Mark holds up his camera, pointing it at himself as he introduces the scene with the following words: 

“We begin on Christmas Eve with me, Mark, and my roommate, Roger. We live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th Street and Avenue B. It's the top floor of what was once a music publishing factory. Old rock and roll posters hang on the walls.They have Roger's picture advertising gigs at CBGB'S and the Pyramid Club. We have an illegal wood burning stove; it's exhaust pipe crawls up to a skylight. All of our electrical appliances are plugged into one thick extension cord which snakes its way out a window. Outside a small tent city has sprung up in the lot next to our building. Inside it's freezing because we have no heat.”

And thus the scene unfolds into the opening number, a song a phone call and an awkward moment of two guys arguing over the fate of their friend.  
Then it finally comes to Dipper and Bill’s first musical number. Mark and Roger leave the scene and the setup changes a little. Dipper manages to ditch the coat, pulling only one ripped sleeve on.

The stage is set up in an ordinary fashion depicting a cold street with plenty of construction going on, busy with musicians sitting around and playing on their makeshift instruments.  
The man on the ground sitting in a pile of dirty rags stumbles up, drunkenly half-babbling and half-singing: “Christmas bells are ringing, Christmas bells are ringing, Christmas bells are ringing…..” he pauses to take a deep breath, stumbling away, shaking his can with a few coins.  
“Somewhere-else! Not here!” And with that, he is gone from the stage, the light focuses on Bill dressed as Angel, wearing black torn jeans, low black boots on a heel, red jacket and a beanie, tapping his palm on the bottom of an empty bucket, creating a nice rhythm as he goes, but gets interrupted by Dipper coming on the scene, stumbling and crashing into trash cans while moaning in pain.

“You okay honey?” Bill begins, jumping down from his spot on a prop construction scaffolding.  
“I'm afraid so,” Dipper echoes right away, limping closer before leaning against a wall.  
“They get any money?”  
“No, had none to get...but they purloined my coat,” he holds up his arm which has the one coat sleeve left on it, “Well, you missed a sleeve! Oh, thanks,” he continues as Bill helps him sit down, kneeling to inspect Dipper’s injured knee while he discards the sleeve.  
“Hell, it's Christmas Eve,” the blond laughs,” I'm Angel.”  
“Angel..? Indeed,” leaning back, Dipper chuckles along with Bill, letting his injury to be inspected by him. And he cannot deny that this is a compromising position. Quickly, he continues before his mind wanders: “An angel of the first degree,” he nods and holds his hand out,” Friends call me Collins. Tom Collins….nice tree …” he mutters awkwardly, pointing his thumb at the makeshift tree wrapped up in Christmas lights. Bill gets up, smirking, offering Dipper a hand to take.

“Let's get a band-aid for your knee. I'll change, there's a ‘Life Support’ meeting at nine-thirty. Yes -- this body provides a comfortable home for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome,” and he pulls Dipper up, who looks surprised enough, holding onto Bill’s hand. When he wants to let go, Bill pulls him closer. Almost losing it again, he mutters: “As does mine-” only to be almost immediately interrupted by Bill.  
“We'll get along fine, get you a coat, have a bite, make a night -- I'm flush.” And he doesn’t forget to add a wink to his sentence.  
“But my friends are waiting-” Dipper tries to reason in character, but gets cut off by Bill stepping closer and patting his cheek, a mouth-splitting grin on his golden face.  
“You're cute when you blush. The more the merri -- ho ho ho.”  
And when Dipper opens his mouth to reason, Bill adds a ”And I do not take no.” in the most sultry tone he can muster up. Damn you Cipher- Dipper curses as he is lead off the stage with Bill’s hand on the small of his back.

Thankfully he has no time to pay attention to Bill outside of the play as they continue, sharing their romantic duet moments such as ‘I’ll cover you’, where they confess their love to each other and which then brings tears to the audience’s eyes when it’s time for a reprise, but this time without Angel, who has fallen victim to AIDS in the meantime, leaving Collins, Dipper, to sing the song solo with the most heart-breaking performance even Dipper’s probably seen. And he’s seen Mabel heart-broken over a lot of things.

The rest of the performance is a blur for Dipper as he spends a lot of time on stage and when it’s time for the final applause, he is pretty sure that he’s been temporarily blinded by the lights shining on him all the time. Other than that his mouth is dry and throat sore but by the applause and standing ovation, it was all worth in the end. Not a professional career worthy but possibly enough for a secret hobby. He can always pull the High School Musical card on everyone.

They all remain standing on the stage and bowing until the very last of the applause is gone Just then, Dipper gets an idea worth a maniac. He turns to his sister, leaning closer to confess his plan to her. She mirrors his crazy grin and begins making some crazy gestures up at Candy. Dipper gets nothing from it, but hey, as long as it works, he is okay with whatever the fuck is ‘snake, snake, lightbulb, horseshoe, L, square, triangle, snake, explosion, violinist and a kiss’ supposed to mean.

Eventually, they slowly return to the sidelines of the stage, most of them vividly chatting about how amazing that was. Dipper stands on his tiptoes, looking for Bill in the small crowd of people. The red jacket is impossible to miss, so when he finally catches him, he grabs his arm and pulls him a little bit to the side into the light.  
“I need to talk to you for a moment, if you don’t mind,” he begins, not letting go of Bill’s arm just yet in case he’d want to pull away.  
“Well? I am listening…” Bill raises his eyebrows, eyes on Dipper’s face, not yet realising what’s going on. He only does when Dipper finally pulls him closer and presses a small peck on his lips. At first his eyes widen in surprise but he relaxes when he is ready to kiss back once the surprise is gone. Then another realisation hits him like a brick wall when he hears a sudden round of an even louder applause accompanied by wolf-whistles and laughs.

Dipper’s whole plan was successful. Without Bill’s knowledge, he managed to drag him back on the stage. The message of Mabel’s apparently meant ‘Don’t close the curtains , leave the light on, focus on left side, this is going to be so romantic my heart might just explode.’ and while Dipper doesn’t see the romantic aspect of it, Bill’s face is definitely worth the sentence.  
When Bill comes back to and Dipper is long pulled away from him, he opens his mouth to say something over the clapping but Dipper simply winks at him uncharacteristically, taking his hand and bowing to the crowd once again before leading him off the stage.

Oh, he is in for quite the adventure now. But he still has to...wait for it.


End file.
